Humans of New York

Inspire by CanvasPop is a weekly blog series showcasing world-class décor ideas, products, art, or photography. Check back on Wednesdays for more inspiration!

We were completely blown away when we came across this blog called Humans of New York — where a local photographer named Brandon Stanton, captures portraits and stories from the amazing characters that he crosses paths with in the city. The stories behind the photos are unique, heart-warming, and sometimes a little crazy! We find Stanton’s project to be incredibly inspirational, and love the fact that there is a great story behind every photograph. Here’s a bit more of the blog’s history:

“My name is Brandon and I began Humans of New York in the summer of 2010. HONY resulted from an idea that I had to construct a photographic census of New York City. I thought it would be really cool to create an exhaustive catalogue of the city’s inhabitants, so I set out to photograph 10,000 New Yorkers and plot their photos on a map. I worked for several months with this goal in mind. But somewhere along the way, HONY began to take on a much different character. I started collecting quotes and short stories from the people I met, and began including these snippets alongside the photographs. Taken together, these portraits and captions became the subject of a vibrant blog, which over the past two years has gained hundreds of thousands of followers. With over 300,000 collective followers on Facebook and Tumblr, HONY provides a worldwide audience with daily glimpses into the lives of strangers in New York City.”

It would be unbelievable to see some of these colorful photos as canvas prints! Here are a few of our favorite pics and stories from Humans of New York:

“As seen in Central Park.”

“I found these two hunched over on Broadway, just like this. It seemed like an interesting moment, so I quickly snapped the photo, then approached them to find out what was so interesting about today’s paper. The man seemed sheepish when he answered: ‘My film just got reviewed by the New York Times,’ he said. ‘So I’m just showing my daughter.'”

“He described himself as a ‘Professional Muse,’ which caused me to laugh a bit. But he wasn’t smiling: ‘I give people guidance,’ he said, ‘I’m going now to meet my first client of the new year.’ I didn’t want to ask more questions, because some things are better left a mystery.”

“Seen in Grand Central Station.”

“This man was walking down the sidewalk with a rolled-up canvas strapped to his back. ‘I like to carry my art around with me,’ he explained, ‘so it will soak up the energy of the city and have a heartbeat on the wall.’‘Can I see it?’ I asked. ‘ Sure,’ he said. ‘It’s a self-portrait.'”

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